


The Wizard from Yumenosaki and the Vampire Prince

by teacroissant



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Romance, Vampires, War, Wizard, Wizards, probably gonna kill a few characters, ritsumao is the main ship, the others are just a bonus, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25716490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacroissant/pseuds/teacroissant
Summary: Mao is a first year at Yumenosaki Academy, a prestigious wizard school. On his first week there he finds out about a big secret that has been hidden from normal people like him for years.
Relationships: Akehoshi Subaru/Hidaka Hokuto, Hibiki Wataru/Tenshouin Eichi, Isara Mao/Sakuma Ritsu, Oogami Kouga/Sakuma Rei, Sena Izumi/Yuuki Makoto (Ensemble Stars!), Suou Tsukasa/Tsukinaga Leo
Comments: 14
Kudos: 73





	1. A walk in the forest

Finally, after all this time Mao's dream came true. He was accepted into Yumenosaki Academy, the most prestigious school a young wizard like himself could ever hope to attend. He's been studying so hard and he finally made it, after months of studying for the entrance exam and practicing every spell until it was perfect, he was just moving in the dorms on his first day of school. Anyone else would be nervous but Mao was exited, he wasn't there alone after all, he was with his childhood friends Subaru, Makoto and Hokuto. They all walked into the dorm building together, they already knew they were going to be sharing a room and where the room was so they just started walking there.

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Subaru said exited.  
"I'm surprised you even managed to get in, you didn't study at all." Hokuto said a little harshly.  
"Come on, Hokke. Don't be so mean." Subaru pouted and then Mao giggled.  
"What matters is that we're all here together. Let's enjoy it and do our best, ok? We don't want to get expelled after working so hard." He said with a big smile on his face.  
"Yeah, Isara-kun is right. We made it this far so we can't mess up now." As Makoto said that they finally got to their room. Hokuto unlocked the door with his key and opened it. Subaru rushed in exited and looked around.  
"I want the bed that's on top!" He yelled and climbed up.  
"Akehoshi-kun, that's not fair! I want the other one!" Makoto yelled and rushed to the other bed. Hokuto sighed as he looked at them.  
"They're idiots just like usual." He said and then walked in. He sat down on the bed that was under Subaru's as he sighed again.

There was only one bed left so Mao had no choice but to take that one. He didn't mind though, he didn't want one of the beds that was on top anyway. They all started unpacking, they didn't have too many clothes because they would be wearing the uniforms they got from the school for most of the week anyway. They also had some other stuff like school supplies and books. When they were all done it was time for dinner. They decided to go there quickly because they had to get their uniforms after that and they didn't want to wait in line for too long.

When they got to the cafeteria it was already pretty crowded, not just with first years but also older students. They were a little intimidating but they didn't look like bullies or anything like that. They just took their food and sat down at a table, they started talking about random things just like they usually did when a tall boy with blonde hair walked up to them. He was already wearing the school uniform so he was most likely a second a third year.

"I've never seen you guys before, you're freshmen, aren't you?" He asked in a gentle voice. The boys just nodded before the blonde continued. "I'm Eichi Tenshouin, the student council president. If you need help with anything don't hesitate to ask me."  
"Thank you, Senpai!" Subaru said and smiled at the older boy.  
"I have to talk to the other first years now, please excuse me." He said politely and then walked away.  
"He seems nice." Makoto said after he left.  
"Wait, Tenshouin... Does that mean he's-" Hokuto started before being interrupted.  
"Wait he's the prince isn't he!?" Subaru yelled and a few people looked at their table to see what was going on.  
"Wait, really?" Mao asked. "I mean this is a really fancy place but I didn't expect royalty to be here." 

They just kept talking until they finished eating dinner and then went to get their uniforms. Surprisingly they were there early so they quickly got their uniforms before going back to their room. When they got back they were exhausted so they ended up falling asleep in just seconds.

In the morning Mao woke up to Hokuto and Subaru talking.  
"Akehoshi! Get up, we're going to be late!"  
"Five more minutes Hokke..."  
Mao slowly got out of bed and looked at the clock, they still had plenty of time but Subaru always took forever to wake up. While Hokuto was still trying to wake Subaru up Mao went into the bathroom and got changed into the school uniform. He looked at himself in the mirror and just smiled, after all this time, it was officially the first day of classes. He wasn't a nerd or anything like that but he was still exited, who wouldn't be? He rushed out of the bathroom and by that time Subaru was already up. He was still really sleepy so Hokuto was helping him out a bit.  
"Come on, Akehoshi. You're not a little kid." Hokuto complained as he tried to fix Subaru's messy bed hair.

After they had breakfast in the dinning hall they ran to their first class, potions class. Mao was never that good with potions but he knew most things perfectly, he really studied a lot for the entrance exam. They all sat down when the teacher walked in. He just started teaching all of a sudden, he didn't even bother to introduce himself. Before class ended he gave everyone homework and then just left. It was obvious that no one liked him that much, he was weird. Mao just sighed and got up to leave with his friends.  
"He's also boring!" Subaru said loudly.  
"Akehoshi-kun you can't just say that out loud!" Makoto said and quickly looked around to make sure no one, especially a teacher heard him say that.  
Mao was really lost in thought, he wasn't a potions guy and the homework looked really complicated, most of the ingredients were rare too. He just sighed again as he walked to the next class with his friends.

After school Mao decided to go in the forest that was next to the school to grab everything he needed for his homework. He had a week to do it but he wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. He had a bag with him and the paper with the homework, this was just a quick trip so he didn't have to bring much. He slowly walked into the forest, it was dark but he could still see enough to walk around safely. He managed to find most of the ingredients easily except one of them, some kind of blue flower. He decided to go a little deeper into the forest, what could possibly go wrong?

After quite some time of walking Mao finally found what he needed, he picked up the flower and put it in his bag. He smiled to himself as he carefully put the flower in the bag, he was really proud of himself, he finally had everything. He turned around so he could go back but suddenly he got confused, he didn't know where he came from. He didn't panic much, the exist was close, right? He started walking in the direction he thought was the good one, he would get back eventually one way or another, he shouldn't panic yet.

He kept walking and walking and soon got very tired. He sat down next to a tree and looked up, it was darker than earlier. Has he been in the forest for that long? No, he couldn't have. It was just a few minutes, maybe twenty, thirty minutes, right? But he has been walking for so long... Mao was really exhausted for some reason but he couldn't just fall asleep there. He got up slowly and started walking in the direction he came from when suddenly someone jumped on him and pushed him to the ground.   
"H-Hey!! Get off!!" Mao screamed and took a quick glance at the other person, he had black hair and red eyes and looked to be about the same size as him. Suddenly the other person smirked at him, he had sharp fangs, kinda like a vampire. A vampire? No, it couldn't be, vampires didn't exist. Suddenly Mao felt pain in his neck, he managed to push the other person off of him before getting up and running away. He never ran this fast in his life, he was terrified but he didn't know what he was terrified of. Did that guy bite his neck? No, he couldn't have done that.

Mao kept running and running until he ran into someone.  
"Isara-kun are you ok?!" A familiar voice asked. Mao looked around for a moment, he was out of the forest somehow.  
"Hey, are you ok? Where have you been?" Makoto asked concerned. Before Mao could answer any of his questions he passed out.


	2. An Unexpected Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People liked the idea so I decided to continue writing this, hope you enjoy

Mao slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he was in his bed back at the dorms. He slowly sat up but his head started hurting really bad.  
"Sarii you're awake!" Subaru yelled but that just made Mao's head hurt more.  
"Akehoshi, stop yelling!" Hokuto said quietly before running to Mao's bed. "Lay back down."  
Mao nodded and laid down, he was obviously really confused, he didn't remember much of what happened to him. All he remembered was him being on the ground with someone on top of him and then running away.  
"What happened..?" Mao asked after taking a moment to relax and wait for the pain to stop.  
"You were gone for a while so we started looking for you but then you ran out of the forest and passed out." Makoto explained.

Mao stared at the ceiling for a moment, his head still hurts but he didn't remember hitting his head or anything like that. Slowly he started to remember.  
"I saw a vampire!" He screamed as he quickly sat up again which made the pain worse. "Agh."  
"Sarii calm down!" Subaru said as he forced Mao to lay back down. "You hurt your head pretty hard, didn't you?"  
"What, no?!" Mao said. "He bit me, look!" He yelled again as he showed them his neck. The others looked at it but didn't see anything.  
"Isara-kun, there's nothing there." Makoto said worried, Mao has been acting really weird since he woke up and that worried him and the other two as well.  
"It's there, I swear!" Mao got up and rushed to the mirror, he looked at his neck and the bite marks were right there.   
"Look, it's here!!" He yelled.  
"Isara, there's nothing there. Are you sure you didn't hit your head somehow?"

Mao just looked into the mirror for a while, the bite marks was right there on his neck, he wasn't crazy, it was right there. He kept looking at it and suddenly it started hurting. It wasn't that bad, mostly it felt more like someone was tickling him. He gently placed his hand on the bite mark and sighed. Something wasn't right, why was he the only one that could see it?   
"You should rest. The headmaster said you don't have to go to classes tomorrow."  
Mao was finally back to reality and nodded.  
"Yeah, I should sleep. Maybe I'm just imagining things." He said as he went back in bed so he could take a nap.

A few hours later Mao woke up, his neck started hurting again but it was way worse this time. He tried not to scream from the pain, he didn't want to wake the others up. Even if they did wake up they would just think he's going crazy again or that he's imagining things. He slowly got out of bed and got dressed, he took some stuff with him and this time he made sure to get his wand. No one was believing him but he knew what he saw, the best thing he could do was go into the forest and hope to find the vampire. It was a stupid plan but he didn't know what else he could do, the bite was getting worse but people didn't even believe he had it, what else could he do? He quietly left the room and walked down the dark hallway. He didn't realize the hallway was so creepy during the night, it was mostly dark but there was a bit of light coming from outside. 

Soon he got out of the building and walked to the forest, it was creepy already and the darkness didn't help at all. Mao started questioning his decision so he turned back around but his bite started hurting again, he never felt so much pain in his entire life. He took a big breath and finally stepped into the forest, he somehow remembered the way so he kept walking and walking until he tripped on something and fell on the ground. "Agh..." He sat up and looked behind him, he didn't trip on something, he tripped on someone.  
"Why did you wake me up...?" The other male asked, Mao recognized the male, it was the vampire from earlier.  
"Ah, sorry. I didn't see you there." Mao replied, he was a little scared but the vampire didn't look as terrifying as earlier.  
The vampire looked up at Mao as he sat up as well.  
"You're the guy from earlier... Wait, come here. I didn't heal your bite." He said as he got closer to Mao. The red head didn't know if he could trust the vampire but he didn't know what else he could do so he listened. The vampire got closer to Mao and then licked the bite. After that it didn't hurt anymore, Mao sighed of relief.  
"I'm glad you came back so soon, you could have turned if I didn't heal it."  
"Turn into what?"   
"A vampire of course~" the vampire said and smirked. Mao's eyes widened, he knew the other was a vampire but hearing it from him made it more real.  
"I thought vampires were just a fairytale, I guess not." Mao said, mostly to himself. At leas now he knew he wasn't crazy.  
"Oh, right. I forgot you guys don't learn about the war anymore."   
"The wh-"  
"Anyway I'm Ritsu, nice to meet you!" The vampire smiled.  
"Oh, I'm Mao. Nice to meet you too, I guess."  
"Maa-kun, that's a pretty name." Ritsu smiled more.  
"What? Maa-kun? What are you even t-"  
"Maa-kun tell me about yourself."

Mao sighed as he looked at Ritsu, he was so confused and Ritsu didn't really care. The nickname wasn't the worst part though, after hearing about a war and meeting a vampire a weird nickname wasn't the most important part.  
"Well I'm a wizard, I'm a student at Yumenosaki-"  
"Yumenosaki? What's that?" Ritsu asked. Mao really couldn't finish a sentence with this guy around.  
"It's a wizard school, it's right next to the forest. You've never heard of it?"  
"We're not allowed to leave the forest so I don't know it." Ritsu explained. "You wizards are so stupid, you don't even know about the war."  
"What's this war you keep talking about?!" Mao yelled, he was so confused and Ritsu wasn't helping at all.  
"I'll tell you another time, I have to go back before my stupid brother starts looking for me, he's so annoying." Ritsu said and got up.  
"Come back here tomorrow, but make sure you get here earlier."   
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then." Mao said as he got up. By the time he was up Ritsu was already gone. 

Mao started walking back to the school, thankfully it was still dark so people were most likely sleeping. He would be in trouble if a teacher found out he went outside in the middle of the night. Soon he got to the dorms and he walked into his room. Thankfully his friends were still sleeping so he quietly changed into his pjs and went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why the chapters end with Mao going to sleep lmao or passing out, maybe I'll keep that for all of the characters as a joke idk that would be fun


	3. A New Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters two days in a row? Yeah I'm surprised too but don't get used to it y'all got lucky this time

The next morning Mao woke up, he sat up as he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He looked at the clock and quickly got up, he was really late. Suddenly he remembered he had the day off so he sat back down on the bed. He was really glad he got a day off, he really needed the extra sleep after everything that happened. Thankfully his head and neck didn't hurt anymore so he decided to do some homework. He walked to his desk and he noticed there was a sandwich and a note on the desk. He took the note and looked at it, it was Subaru's messy writing. "We got you this sandwich from the cafeteria this morning so make sure you eat it!" The note was covered in drawings of stars, even if you didn't recognize Subaru's writing you would still know he wrote it. Mao smiled and started eating, he was really hungry. He didn't go to dinner the day before so he hasn't eaten in almost 24 hours.

After he finished eating he started doing some homework, he didn't have anything better to do anyway. While he was working he heard the door open. He looked up and saw his friends walking in.  
"Hey, guys!" Mao said and smiled.  
"Isara, what are you doing? Get back in bed!" Hokuto yelled and then dragged Mao back to his bed.  
"I'm fine, really! And I have to do my homework or I'll be in trouble!" Mao explained.  
"We talked to the teachers, they said you can give them your work a little later."  
Mao sighed and sat down on his bed.  
"Fine... I'll rest. But why are you guys here anyway?"  
"We got you lunch, we thought you would be hungry." Makoto said and handed Mao a plate with food. He wasn't really that hungry yet but he appreciated the fact that his friends went out of their way to get him some food.  
"Thank you, guys. And thanks for the sandwich too, I was starving when I woke up." Mao said and smiled.  
"We should go to class now, don't do any more of your homework while we're gone. Rest." Hokuto said and then dragged Makoto and Subaru out of the room. Mao watched them leave and sat there for a while. He was ok now, he really was. But he was acting like a crazy person the night before so of course his friends would be worried.

Mao did more of his homework and soon finished it eat. By now he was already hungry so he decided to eat his lunch, he had nothing better to do now anyway. All he could do was wait for classes to be over and for his friends to come back. Soon all of them walked in again.  
"Isara I told you to rest." Hokuto sighed.  
"Hokuto I'm fine, really!" Mao said and got up from his chair. "I know I was acting weird last night but I'm ok now! I think I'll go do my potions homework actually!" Mao said and ran to go get dressed. Hokuto sighed again and looked at Makoto.  
"You still had to do your potions homework, right? Can you go make sure he's ok?"  
"Of course I'll go, but I think he's fine." Makoto replied.  
"Hokke you worry too much!" Subaru said and hugged Hokuto from behind.  
"H-Hey! Akehoshi!"   
While they were talking Mao got out of the bathroom, he grabbed his bag and walked to the door.   
"I'm going now, I'll be back before we have to go to dinner." Before Mao could leave Makoto rushed to the door.  
"Wait, I'm coming with you. I need to do the homework too."

The two of them ended up going to the potions classroom together. Some people were already there, they were all doing homework.  
"This shouldn't take too long, it's a hard potion but we can do it quickly." Mao said and grabbed the book and ingredients from his bag. He almost died trying to get that one flower so he shouldn't mess this up. He was still a little nervous, he wasn't good with potions, at least Makoto was there with him. Even though Makoto didn't look very smart at first he was amazing with potions. While Mao was still reading the instructions when Makoto finished, he grabbed a small bottle and put the potion in it.  
"How did you-"  
"I make this all the time with my mom, people buy them a lot for some reason." Makoto explained. Mao knew Makoto's mother had a shop that sold potions but he didn't know Makoto helped around so much. Even though this was a hard potion it was also a basic one, of course Makoto would know how to make it without too much trouble.  
"This isn't written in the book but there's a trick to it. You have to add these two almost at the same time." Makoto explained as he grabbed two of the ingredients Mao had.  
"Ok, I think I'm ready to try it." Mao got everything ready and read all he needed from the book. He put all the ingredients in and then started mixing everything together. After a few seconds the potion turned into the color it needed to be.  
"You did it!" Makoto said cheerfully as he handed Mao a small bottle. "Put it in while it's still good!"  
Mao took the bottle and put the potion in, it looked almost as good as Makoto's surprisingly and he was really proud of it. He was never that good with potions so this was a big accomplishment for him.  
"Thanks for the help, I don't know if I could have done it without you."  
"It was just a little advice, you did most of the work!" Makoto smiled and packed up all of his things. "Let's go back to the dorm." Mao nodded and grabbed his stuff as well before the two of them left the room together. 

On their way to the dorm they ended up walking by the student council president. When Eichi realized who the red head was he turned back around. "Isara Mao, you're the one that got lost the other day, correct?" Mao turned to look at Eichi. "Hm? Yeah."  
"Can you come to the student council room tomorrow after school? I need to talk to you about something."   
"Sure, I'll make sure to come." Mao said, he didn't know why the student council president out of all people was interested in him all of a sudden.  
"Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow then." Eichi said before he walked away.  
"Do you know what he wants to talk to you about?" Makoto asked.  
"I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see I guess." 

Later that night when everyone was asleep Mao sneaked out again. He went into the forest to the place where he met Ritsu the night before. He got there a little early and Ritsu wasn't there yet so he decided to sit down and wait for him.   
"Maa-kun~" Mao heard the familiar voice, someone was gently poking his cheek. He opened his eyes and there he saw Ritsu right in front of him.  
"I think I fell asleep." Mao said and he rubbed his eyes.   
"I really missed you Maa-kun."  
"Come on, silly. It's only been a day." Mao said and got up.  
"I want to take you somewhere. Don't worry I'll take you back here when we're done, I'm not going to kidnap you or anything." Ritsu said as he smirked.  
"Saying that just makes you look even more suspicious, you know?" Mao said and followed Ritsu.  
"I'm just joking, you really think I'd kidnap you? It would be too much of a pain." Ritsu said jokingly.

The two of them just kept talking as they walked to wherever Ritsu was taking Mao to.  
"We're here!" Ritsu said as he grabbed Mao's hand and walked with him in what looked like a town. Mao looked around, it was really pretty. It looked way better than his hometown that's for sure.  
"Come on, I'll show you around!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll get some new characters and a lot more Ritsumao I promise


	4. Soulmates

Mao just let Ritsu drag him around as he looked at his surroundings, it was the middle of the night but the town was beautifully lit up with colorful lights. There weren't that many people walking around, it was mostly empty and quiet but not in a creepy way like it is when you're walking alone on the street at night.  
"Maa-kun are you hungry? Let's go get something to eat!" Ritsu said and dragged Mao to a small bakery. They walked inside and Ritsu bought two apple pastries. He handed one to Mao and smiled as they left the bakery. Mao took a bite out of it and his face lit up.  
"It's so good!" He said as he ate more of it. "But can you eat this kind of food? I thought you could only drink blood."  
"I'm not a mosquito, Maa-kun!" Ritsu replied. "I didn't even get to taste blood before I met you." He said and sighed.  
"Oh, well in stories vampire can't survive without blood."  
"It's just a stupid lie, I didn't even like the blood that much. We usually bite people if we want to turn them." Ritsu explained.  
"But why did you try to turn me? We didn't even know each other then." Mao asked.

Ritsu completely ignored Mao's question and just kept dragging him around the town. Mao realized something changed, Ritsu looked sad and even a little scared.  
"Ritsu, are you ok?" Mao asked clearly concerned.  
"I'm fine, don't worry." Ritsu said and dragged Mao to another store. It looked like a jewelry store and Mao was obviously confused.  
"Ritsu why are we here?" The vampire didn't answer, he just looked around for a moment before walking up to the counter.  
"Ritsu! I haven't seen you in a while!" The woman said exited. "Are you here for the-"  
"Yeah, I am!" Ritsu said exited, Mao was confused. Why were they here? Did this have anything to do with him?

While Mao was thinking about all of this the woman at the counter came back with a small bag.  
"Thank you!~" Ritsu said exited as he handed her some many and took the bag.  
"I hope you and your boyfriend will like them!" She said with a big smile.  
"Boyfriend?!" Mao asked confused as Ritsu dragged him out of the store. "Hey, what was she talking about?"  
After a short while Ritsu stopped dragging Mao, they were in what looked like a park, it was mostly empty and very quiet.  
"Ritsu, you've been acting weird, what's wrong?"  
Ritsu opened the small bag and took out two bracelets from it.  
"You don't know?" Ritsu asked but sighed. "Of course you don't, you didn't even know vampires existed a few days ago."  
"Know what?"   
"Well we're soulmates, it probably sounds like a cheesy thing you hear about in fairy tales but-"  
"Nothing is as weird as finding out that vampires are real, at this point I'll believe anything." Mao said before realization hit him. "Wait, did you just say soulmates?"  
Ritsu nodded and laughed nervously. "Yeah, I thought it was just children's stories until now. If it's with a vampire and wizard like with us the vampire will try to turn the wizard. I don't know why but that's how it is." Ritsu explained as he gently grabbed Mao's hand and put the bracelet on. After that he put the other one on himself. He smiled at Mao and got closer to him as he was getting ready to bite his neck. Before Ritsu managed to bite him Mao gently pushed him away.

"Wait... This is happening too fast, I'm not ready." Mao said and looked into Ritsu's eyes. "I'm sorry, let's spend more time together before we make a big decision like this." Ritsu looked dissapointed but he understood, they barely knew each other.  
"Ok, I'm sorry. Let's go back now, I'm sure you need to go back soon." Ritsu said and held Mao's hand as he walked with him back to the forest. "If you need some time to think about everything you can, I don't mind. I'll wait every night for you until you're ready to come see me again."  
Mao was feeling weird, this was happening way too fast. He really needed time to think about everything. While Mao was lost in his thoughts they got to the forest.  
"I'll wait for you every night so come back whenever you're ready, and I promise I won't try to rush you into anything next time." Ritsu said gently before they heard two voices coming from behind them.

"There they are!" Someone yelled as Mao was tackled to the ground. Mao pushed the other off of him before he felt someone hold him tightly, it was Ritsu. When he looked around he noticed two guys around his age, one of them was on the ground, he was probably the one that jumped on Mao just a few seconds ago.  
"Suu-chan, what the hell are you doing!?"  
"He's a wizard, Ritsu!!" The boy with red hair yelled.  
"Well he's my soulmate!! Don't you dare hurt him!"  
"Ha?! Your soulmate is a wizard? You're just messing with us!" The other guy said, he had grey hair and he looked scarier than the other one.  
"It's true, why would I lie!! And why are you two here anyway!?" Ritsu yelled as he held Mao even tighter.

Mao was terrified, who were these guys? Why did they try to attack him? While the others kept yelling at each other Mao pushed Ritsu away and ran as fast as he could. Why was this happening to him? Why did the other two hate him so much? Mao's head was a mess, too much happened in just a few days. 

The next day after school Mao started looking for the student council room. He didn't know why the student council president wanted to talk to him but he promised he would be there. He was looking around confused when he bumped into someone, he looked up and he saw the blonde.  
"Isara-kun, are you lost? The student council room is that way." Eichi said as he pointed in the direction he was walking in. "Let's go together." Mao nodded as he followed Eichi, it was a little too quiet so he decided to try starting a conversation.  
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Mao asked.  
"I'll tell you when we get there." Eichi said and soon they got to the student council room. It was empty, it was just the two of them. "Go sit down, I'll make some tea." Mao did as he was told and sat down on one of the couches, he looked around the room and he was impressed, it was very well decorated and everything looked very expensive.

Eichi soon walked to the other couch and sat down as he placed the tea set on the coffee table.  
"I wanted to talk to you about when you got lost in the forest. Did you see anything weird while you were in there?" Eichi asked.  
"Weird? Like what?"  
"Other people maybe?" Eichi explained and Mao knew what he was talking about. He didn't know what he should say, could he tell Eichi about everything? Could he really trust him?  
"So you know something, don't you?"  
"I-... Why are you asking me about this?"  
"It doesn't concern you, just answer my question." Eichi said, it wasn't his usual gentle voice, he sounded terrifying.  
"I should go..." Mao said as he got up from the couch and rushed out of the room. He didn't know what to do and who to trust, this whole thing was a confusing mess.


	5. New Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty uneventful, it's mostly to introduce more characters in the story. It will get spicy in the next chapter I promise.

It's been a few days since Mao talked to Eichi, everything was a mess in his mind, thankfully he distracted himself with homework, he would go crazy if he kept thinking about it all day long. Now he was working on a group project with his friends and they soon finished.  
"It's finally done!" Subaru said and laid down on the floor.  
"It didn't even take that long, Akehoshi." Hokuto said and sighed.  
"Uh, guys? I have a question." Mao said as he looked at his friends. Subaru sat up and smiled.  
"Sure! What is it?"  
"Do you guys believe in soulmates or anything like that?" Mao asked. It was probably a weird question coming from him, he was never a romance guy, well none of them were actually.  
"Well I never thought about that much." Makoto said. "But I guess everyone has someone they're meant to be with."  
"I agree with Ukki!" Subaru said. "And I'm pretty sure my soulmate is Hokke!"  
"Akehoshi, don't say something so ridiculous." Hokuto said and it was obvious he got slightly embarrassed.  
"But why this question all of a sudden?" Makoto asked.  
"Just a random thought I guess." Mao said and smiled.  
"Hey, what's that!" Subaru exclaimed as he grabbed Mao's right arm and lift it up. "I never knew you liked jewelery and stuff like that!"  
"It's just a gift from someone, it's nothing special." Mao said as he started to get nervous, he couldn't tell them about everything, they would think he was crazy just like the first time.  
"Are you sure? It looks expensive." Makoto said as he got closer to look at the bracelet. "And who did you get it from?"  
"Uh, just a friend."  
"Just leave him alone you idiot duo. It's just a bracelet it's nothing special." Hokuto said and Makoto and Subaru stopped looking at the bracelet.  
"I guess you're right... Sorry Sari."  
"It's fine, don't apologise." Mao said and smiled, Hokuto really saved him this time, he didn't know what lie he could have come up with if they kept asking questions.

It's been a few days since Ritsu last saw Mao and he was starting to lose hope. He shouldn't have tried to rush Mao into anything, he was an idiot for even trying to do that. Ritsu was waiting in the usual spot in the forest but Mao wasn't coming, if he was he would have been there hours ago. The night was going to be over soon so Ritsu got up and started walking back home. He usually slept for most of the day and only went out at night. Vampires usually didn't need too much sleep but Ritsu and his older brother Rei were a little different. Ritsu didn't mind though, he loved sleeping and his bed was very comfortable. Soon he got back to the castle and walked inside. By the time he got there the sun was already up so his brother was most likely sleeping.  
"Ritchii where the hell have ya been?! It's already morning!!" A voice yelled, it was his brother's stupid fiance.  
"I was just outside, nothing happened so stop worrying about me so much doggie." Ritsu said as he walked upstairs to his room. He laid down on the bed and covered himself up with the blanket. He was exhausted, waiting in the forest for hours without much happening was really tiring. 

When Ritsu woke up hours later the sun was already setting. He got out of bed and got ready, he wanted to go wait in the forest again, maybe tonight Mao would finally show up. He rushed down the stairs but as he was about to leave he ran into his brother.  
"Ritsu! There you are! Don't you want to eat with us?" He asked but Ritsu shook his head.  
"No, I'm busy." Ritsu started to run again but Rei grabbed his hand.  
"Wait!" Suddenly Rei noticed the bracelet, even though him and Ritsu haven't spend that much time together recently he knew what the bracelet meant. "Ritsu did you-"  
"Yeah, I found him. Can you let me go? I really have to be somewhere now." Rei let him go and watched Ritsu leave, he was sad that Ritsu never told him about this but he couldn't do anything about it.

Ritsu spent most of the night in the forest as usual. He was thinking about leaving and going back home when he heard someone in the forest. He looked around and then saw Mao walk up to him.  
"Maa-kun!" Ritsu said and jumped up exited.  
"Sorry for taking so long to come back, I had to think about... You know, all of this."  
"It's fine! I told you I'd wait!" Ritsu sounded really happy, Mao didn't know him that well yet but he never saw him this happy.  
"Also are the bracelets some kind of magical thing?" Mao asked, it sounded stupid but it was a possibility.  
"No, they're just normal bracelets! I mean it was more of an engagement bracelet thingy but-"  
"A what now?!" Mao asked but Ritsu just laughed.  
"I mean we're gonna get married at some point, right?"  
"But we just met, we don't know if-"  
"Come on, I'm just messing with you! But I wouldn't mind marrying you at all~" Ritsu was just messing with him and Mao knew that but still, Mao couldn't stop thinking about it. They were meant to be with each other after all.

Mao was lost in his thoughts again until he suddenly realized Ritsu was dragging him around the town just like last time.  
"Ritsu, where are we going?"  
"I wanted to introduce you to my friends, is that ok?" Ritsu asked as he stopped running for a second.  
"Yeah, it's fine. Let's go." As Mao said that Ritsu started running again.  
Soon they were on a smaller street, it wasn't a creepy dark alley or anything like that, it was actually really nice.  
"It's you again!!" A familiar voice yelled, it was the boy with red hair that attacked Mao the other day.  
"Suu-chan, we talked about this! You can't hurt him!" Ritsu said.  
"But-"  
"Kasa-kun just shut up, so annoying." It was the boy with grey hair that Mao saw. When he looked around he noticed two other people he didn't know.  
"You're dressed weird, you must be an alien!" The boy with orange hair yelled, he reminded Mao of Subaru in a way.  
"What's an alien?" Mao asked, was it some other creature he didn't know about?  
"I have to be somewhere so let's make this quick, I didn't even want to be here in the first place."  
"Fine, fine. Guys, this is Maa-kun!" Ritsu said with a big smile.  
"Aww, he's cute!"  
"I know, Natchan!"

At first Mao was scared of Ritsu's friends but soon they started getting along really well, except Tsukasa guy. Mao didn't know why the other hated him so much, he didn't know if he did something wrong or not. Soon the others had to go so him and Ritsu started going back to the forest.  
"I think they like you!" Ritsu said and Mao just nodded.  
"Yeah..."  
"What's wrong?"  
"That Suou guy, I feel like he doesn't like me that much. I don't know what I did wrong." Mao sighed.  
"You did nothing wrong, he hates wizards for personal reasons. But I'm sure he knows you're a good person." Ritsu explained.  
"We'll just have to wait and see I guess."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired of naming chapters lmao anyway this chapter is longer than usual somehow and I'm really proud of it.

Mao's been going out to see Ritsu almost every night with a few exceptions. It was tiring obviously but to him it was worth it, he loved spending time with Ritsu and getting to know him better. One night Mao left his room as usual, he quietly walked out of the building and into the forest. By now he knew the way really well so he didn't have much trouble getting there. Soon he got to the usual spot but Ritsu wasn't there, it was Izumi instead.  
"Sena? What are you doing here?" Mao asked. Izumi sighed.  
"Finally, you're here. Ritsu had something to do tonight so he asked me to stay here so I can tell you to go home. So go home." Izumi said a little harshly, he has been sitting there for a while and it was getting boring.  
"Do you know when I can come back to see Ri-"  
"Quiet." Izumi whispered all of a sudden. "Someone's here, I can feel it."  
Before Mao could think about what was happening Izumi ran to a random tree, Mao was confused but then realized Izumi tackled someone.  
"Aaagh!!" Someone screamed and Mao immediately recognized the voice.  
"Makoto?!" Mao ran up to them and realized Izumi was about to bite Makoto. "Sena! Stop it!" He yelled as he tried to pull him off of Makoto. Izumi quickly snapped out of it and looked down at the boy, he now knew that it was his soulmate but he couldn't really process that information.  
"Is he a friend of yours?" Izumi asked as he got off of Makoto. Mao nodded as he helped Makoto up, he figured out what just happened too but Makoto had no way of knowing, he had to learn about everything later. Makoto just kept looking at Izumi and then back at Mao, he was confused.  
"Just go home, and make sure you aren't followed by anyone next time." Izumi said as he walked away.

Mao and Makoto were walking back, Mao didn't know how he should start explaining everything and the silence was getting awkward.  
"So vampires do exist..." Makoto said after a while. "Why didn't you tell us?"  
"I tried but you guys though I was crazy." Mao chuckled but then sighed. "It was hard for me to believe it too, and trust me it gets weirder."  
Soon they got out of the forest.  
"Don't tell anyone about this yet, I'll explain everything tomorrow after classes, I promise." Mao said and Makoto nodded. "Also did he bite you?"  
"Hm? No, I'm fine. I'm pretty sure you stopped him in time." Makoto said.  
"Ok, but if it starts to hurt tell me immediately."

The next day after school Mao was in his room doing some of his work. Subaru and Hokuto were outside doing whatever they were doing but Makoto was supposed to come back soon, Mao still had to tell him about everything.  
"Isara-kun!" Makoto yelled as he rushed into the room. Mao suddenly knew something was wrong, Makoto sounded really scared.  
"Hey! What's wrong?" Mao said as he got up and rushed to Makoto.  
"My neck... It hurts. It wasn't that bad in the morning but it's getting way worse." Makoto said before he screamed all of a sudden.  
Mao knew what was happening, they had to find Izumi and they had to find him fast. Mao grabbed Makoto's hand and rushed out of the room with him. He didn't know if he could find Izumi but he had to try, he didn't know how much time they had.  
"Isara-kun, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have followed you last night." Makoto said after a while, tears in his eyes. He felt really guilty, if he didn't follow Mao this wouldn't have happened.  
"Don't apologise, damnit! I would have done the same if I was in your place!" Mao said as he kept running. Soon they got to the usual spot where he met Ritsu but no one was there. "Shit... I'll have to go look for him, wait here. If a guy with black hair and red eyes comes here tell him you're my friend."  
Makoto nodded as he sat down and leaned against a tree. The pain was getting worse quickly, he could have sworn he was about to die any time now.

Mao rushed into the town, he didn't know where he could look for Izumi but he didn't know what else to do. He ran around for a while before he heard a familiar voice.  
"What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Sena!! I was looking for you!" Mao yelled and grabbed Izumi's hand.  
"Haa?! Why were you looki-" before Izumi could finish talking Mao started dragging him back to the forest.  
"You bit my friend last night!!" Izumi's eyes widened, he didn't remember doing that at all.  
"There's no way I-"  
"Yes you did!" Mao yelled and soon they were back to where Makoto was. Makoto looked up at Mao and then looked at Izumi. Mao didn't have a chance to explain everything yet so he didn't know what was going on.  
"Isara-kun... Why is he here?" He asked.  
"He's the only one that can help you. He won't hurt you this time, I promise." Mao said and sat down next to Makoto. Meanwhile Izumi started getting closer to Makoto, he had to heal him as quickly as possible. When Izumi was really close to his neck Makoto started feeling really uncomfortable but he didn't move, he trusted Mao, he knew he was going to be fine.  
"Ok, done." Izumi said and got up. Makoto was confused at first, what just happened? His neck didn't hurt anymore so that was good.  
"Thank you." Makoto said as he gently smiled at Izumi.  
"Don't thank me, you ended up like this because of me." Izumi said and sighed. "Take him back, he needs to rest." Izumi told Mao before he started walking away.

On their way back Mao ended up giving Makoto a piggyback ride. Makoto was weaker than him and could barely walk after Izumi healed his bite. Soon they got back to the school, the sun was about to set. Mao walked to their room and laid Makoto down on his bed, Makoto's bed was the top one and it was way too hard for Mao to put him there. Mao started doing some homework and after a while he heard Makoto wake up and sit up.  
"Isara-kun? What happened?" Makoto asked in a sleepy voice. Mao walked up to the bed and looked at Makoto.  
"How are you feeling? It doesn't hurt anymore, does it?"  
"No, I'm fine." Makoto smiled but the smile quickly faded. "Why did he bite me and didn't bite you?" Mao didn't know if Makoto was ready to hear the truth yet so he decided to try to avoid the question.  
"Let's start from the beginning, it's a long and complicated story." Makoto nodded as Mao started talking again. "So vampires exist but they're not like what we hear in stories. They don't bite us to drink blood, if they bite us but they don't heal us we'll turn into vampires, that's what he told me at least."  
"He?" Makoto asked.  
"A vampire named Ritsu, he's the one I met when I got lost in the forest."  
"He's the one you go hang out with when you leave during the night?"  
"Yeah, that's him." Mao said and smiled slightly.  
"Wait, after you came back from the forest you said your neck was hurting. Did he bite you?" Mao sighed and nodded, Makoto didn't look like the brightest but he put two and two together quick. "Why did he bite you? Was he the only vampire that did?"

Mao was lost in thoughts, he knew he had to tell Makoto about this but was now the right time?  
"Isara-kun?"  
"This is probably the weirdest part, to be honest I wasn't sure it was true until I saw what happened last night." Mao sighed. "Ritsu told me that when a vampire meets their soulmate for the first time they'll try to turn their soulmate into a vampire if they aren't one already."  
"Wait, so that guy that bit me is-"  
Before Makoto could finish talking the door opened and Subaru and Hokuto walked in.  
"Sarri! Ukki! Let's go have dinner!" Subaru yelled as he ran to Mao and hugged him from behind.

While they were having dinner Mao noticed Makoto was a little more quiet than usual, he was probably thinking about everything that happened and Mao couldn't blame him, it was a lot of information that he had to process in such a short time.  
"Hey! Ukki? Are you listening?"  
"Wha- Huh?" Makoto looked at Subaru. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired I guess." He said and sighed.  
"Well it's Friday today so you can sleep in tomorrow." Hokuto suggested.  
Makoto nodded but suddenly he started feeling dizzy. "I think I'll go back and rest." He got up and started walking away but a few steps later he passed out.  
"Ukki!!" Subaru screamed as he got up and ran to him, he was trying to catch Makoto even though he was so far away. Thankfully Makoto ended up falling on someone.  
"Kagehira!! Are you ok?!" Someone screamed.  
The boy that Makoto fell on looked confused, he didn't know what just happened. Everyone was looking at them as Subaru and Hokuto got Makoto off of the boy.  
"Are you ok?" Mao asked the other boy and helped him up. Before the boy could say anything someone ran to him and hugged him.  
"Kagehira!! Are you ok?! What happened?!" The boy nodded.

By now Mao was back to paying attention to Makoto, he looked really pale. Izumi got the bite healed and Makoto was feeling fine, what happened?!  
"Let's take him back to our room!" Hokuto said and tried to pick Makoto up. "Damnit, he's so heavy." Mao then tried to pick him up and after a few attempts he managed to do it.  
They walked back to the dorm and laid Makoto down on the bed.  
"What happened to him?" Subaru asked obviously concerned.  
"He said he was tired, maybe he didn't sleep too well the past few night." Hokuto said.  
Mao knew that wasn't the problem but he couldn't tell the others yet, he just had to wait for the night so he could go talk to Ritsu and Izumi.   
"Let's just let him rest for now." Mao said as he covered Makoto up with a blanket.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter where nothing much happens but it will get spicy next chapter I promise

Mao woke up in the middle of the night so he could go talk to Ritsu about what happened. He got out of the bed as quietly as possible, they couldn't carry Makoto to his bed so Mao had to sleep on the bed that was on top. He managed to get down without making too much noise thankfully. He decided to check up on Makoto before leaving, he didn't look as pale as before thankfully but Mao was still worried sick. Usually he would think it was just a cold or the lack of sleep but he knew this was more than that. He soon left the room and ran to the forest as usual. This time he was trying to get there as soon as possible, he didn't want to waste any time.

Mao ran to the usual meeting spot where he saw Ritsu.  
"Maa-kun! I missed y-"  
"Ritsu, I need help!" Mao said and Ritsu was obviously terrified, he never saw Mao so scared before.  
"Wh-What's wrong?"  
"Last night Sena bit one of nu friends! He healed him earlier today but he ended up passing out! I don't know what to do!"  
"Calm down, that's normal!" Ritsu said and Mao looked at him confused. "This happens if the vampire that bit you isn't royalty, that's why it didn't happen to you. He'll be fine tommorow morning so don't worry."  
"R-Really? He'll be fine?" Mao smiled and hugged Ritsu tightly. He just smiled at first but soon he started crying.  
"Maa-kun?"  
"I was so scared, I thought Sena healed him too late." Ritsu held Mao tightly.  
"He should have told you about that, he's such an idiot. Don't worry, I'll make him pay for it later. Stupid Secchan." Mao laughed a little as he pulled away from the hug and wiped his tears away.  
"I'm glad he'll be ok, I don't know what I would have done it I lost him. It would have been all my fault, he followed me last night and-"  
"Wait, he's Secchan soulmate, isn't he?"  
"I guess he is..." Mao laughed.  
"Stupid Secchan, he made fun of me for having a wizard soulmate but he's the same, such an idiot!"

Mao and Ritsu just walked around and talked like usual for a few hours and then Mao went back to the dorm. He was really exhausted and could barely walk, he forgot Makoto was in his bed so he just laid down there and fell asleep. Mao noticed the bed was warmer than usual but he didn't mind, it was starting to get really cold so the extra warmth was really nice.

"Wha-?! Isara-kun?!" Makoto yelled and Mao opened his eyes, the sun was just rising.   
"What...?" He slowly sat up as he rubbed his eyes. Then he noticed he was in the same bed as Makoto and quickly got up. "I-I'm so sorry! I went out last night and when I came back I forgot you were on my bed and-"  
"It's fine, don't worry. I was just confused." Makoto said and laughed a little.  
"Hey, how are you feeling? I talked to Ritsu and he said this was normal but..."  
"I'm feeling way better now." Makoto smiled. Mao looked at him, he wasn't as pale as the night before and he looked like he had a lot more energy.  
"Just be careful for a while, you really scared us last night. And you fell on this one guy when you passed out, he was so confused." Mao said and chuckled.  
"I should apologise to him later, I probably scared him."  
"Lucky for you he looked kind of unique, he has two different color eyes and I'm sure I saw him in some of our classes." Mao said.  
"Also we didn't get to talk about this last night but that guy that bit me... He's my soulmate, right?" Makoto asked and Mao sighed.  
"Yeah, I know it sounds very cheesy and like something that girls like to talk about but it's true." Mao said.  
"Do you think I can see him again? I mean he is my soulmate so..."  
"Sure, I'm going back to see Ritsu tonight so you can come with me. Also he won't try to bite you the next time he sees you, that's only a one time thing thankfully." Mao explained.  
"Well that's a relief, I wouldn't want to deal with the whole bite thing again."

Mao and Makoto kept talking for a while until Subaru and Hokuto woke up. They just spent the day doing whatever and soon the day was already over. They all went to sleep and Mao woke up a few hours later. He quietly got out of bed and then woke Makoto up. They got ready and then they left the room.

Makoto was getting a little nervous and Mao noticed.  
"Hey, you ok?" He asked.  
"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous that's all. It's just that I never really thought about being with someone and now that I have someone I'm destined to be with I just feel weird."  
"I know what you're saying, I felt that way too at first. I'm surprised we never thought about stuff like this before thought. I mean we're teenagers, the only thing teenagers think about is dating." Mao said.  
"All we thought about was studying, all of us except Akehoshi-kun. He doesn't show it much but all he's thinking about is how he can confess to someone, I don't know who thought."  
"Wait, how do you know that? You're messing with me, aren't you?" Mao asked obviously surprised, Subaru seemed like the type of guy that could easily tell someone something like that.  
"No, I'm not." Makoto laughed. "A few months ago I went to his house and he was writing some kind of love letter when I got there, I caught him doing it so he ended up telling me about it. Don't tell him I told you, I still want to live." Mao laughed.  
"I won't, don't worry. But I wonder who the letter was for... Do you have any idea?"  
"Hm, not really. Maybe it's someone we don't know." Makoto shrugged.  
"I hope we'll find out one day..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your girl kinda be having writer's block anyway eat up my children

Soon the two boys got to the usual meeting spot. Surprisingly Izumi was there too.  
"Ritsu, why is he here?" Mao asked, he was glad they didn't have to go look for him but this was weird.  
"He said that you would bring glasses guy... I guess he was right." Ritsu said.  
"A-Anyway, Makoto, this is Sena Izumi. Sena, this is my friend Makoto Yuuki." Mao introduced them.  
"Nice to meet you." Makoto said and smiled, he was a little nervous but he was trying to hide that.  
"Can I call you Yuu-kun?" Izumi asked all of a sudden.  
"Yuu-kun? Sure I guess." Makoto shrugged.  
"Maa-kun~ Secchan said we should go on a double date. We thought a picnic would be nice so we got some food." Ritsu showed Mao the picnic basket.  
"Wait... DATE?!" Mao and Makoto asked shocked.  
"Why are you so surprised Maa-kun?" Ritsu asked but then grabbed his hand. "Whatever let's just go!" 

Before Mao and Makoto knew what was happening they ended up in a small park. It was really nice and quiet and there was a river close by.  
"It's so pretty..." Makoto said as he looked around amazed by the view. While Mao and Makoto were looking around Izumi and Ritsu got everything set up, they put a blanket down on the ground and then got a few plates out of the basket.  
"Yuu-kun! Do you want a sandwich?" Izumi asked but handed Makoto a plate with a sandwich anyway.  
"Uh, thank you." Makoto sat down and took a bite. "It's really good!" He said and smiled at Izumi. The vampire was surprised by the sudden smile and blushed.  
"Aww, you're blushing~" Ritsu teased Izumi and poked his cheek.  
"Shut up, idiot." Izumi mumbled.  
Ritsu grabbed a small box from the basket, he opened it and grabbed something from it, it was a grape.  
"Maa-kun, say aaah~" Ritsu said.  
"Ritsu, I'm not a little kid. I can eat by myself."  
"Please~"  
"Fine, aaah." Ritsu smiled and fed him.  
"Hm, it's g-" Before Mao could finish talking Ritsu leaned in closer and kissed him. Mao was shocked and after a few seconds he pulled away. "R-Ritsu!!" He yelled and tried to hide his face, he was as red as a tomato.  
"Aww, are you embarrassed?~" Ritsu teased him and got closer again.  
"R-Ritsu!!" Mao yelled and tried to get away but he ended up losing his balance. Before he could fall Ritsu caught him.  
"Sorry, sorry. I'll stop now." He said and smiled.

"Yuu-kun? Yuu-kun! Are you listening?"  
"Hm, wha-" Makoto was paying attention to what Mao and Ritsu were doing so he wasn't listening to Izumi. "I'm sorry, I got a little distracted."  
"Are you ok? You're probably still tired because of what happened. I'm sorry..."  
"Don't apologise, I know you couldn't do anything to stop it. I'm fine now so don't worry."  
"You sure? I healed you a long time after I bit you, aren't you tired or anything like that?" Izumi asked obviously concerned.  
"I'm fine, really." Makoto smiled. Izumi smiled and pat the blonde's head.  
"Ok, but if you feel tired make sure you rest."  
"Aww, you're such a softie Secchan~ I thought you were just a big meanie all the time but you're actually really nice~" Ritsu teased.  
"Ah, shut up. So annoying..." Izumi mumbled but Makoto giggled. "Hm? What's so funny?"  
"You're cute when you're angry!"  
"Ehhhhh?!" Izumi screamed and Ritsu just started laughing.  
"Ritsu! Stop laughing!" Mao yelled at him.  
Realization suddenly hit Makoto, did he really call Izumi cute?  
"Izumi-san wait I was trying to say something else, you're not cute at all! Ah, I mean-" Makoto was freaking out, his brain just stopped working.  
Ritsu was about to start laughing again but Mao glared at him so he tried to hold it in.  
"Yuu-kun, calm down." Izumi said and held his hands gently. "I was just surprised, that's all. You're such an idiot." Makoto sighed of relief, he really thought he messed things up.  
"Ok, sorry for freaking out." The blonde smiled. Izumi smiled back and kissed his forehead.

A few hours passed and Mao and Makoto decided to go back, they really needed to get some sleep  
"Hey, Isara-kun?"  
"Hm? What is it?"  
"That was your first kiss, wasn't it?" Makoto asked and Mao blushed.  
"Y-Yeah... "  
"How was it? Did it feel good?" Makoto asked but then blushed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking something like t-"  
"No, it's fine." Mao smiled and paused for a moment. "Now that I think about it it was actually really nice. And his lips were really soft... Enough about me, how did things go with you and Sena? Except the you freaking out part of course."  
"It was really fun. And he's really sweet to me even though we just met. He scared me a little at first but I really like him." Makoto started blushing as he talked about it.  
"Aww, you're falling for him, aren't you?~" Mao teased and Makoto blushed even more.  
How did they even end up like this? A month ago they couldn't even imagine dating someone but now they were talking about boys and giggling like school girls.  
"I just hope Subaru and Hokuto don't figure it out, explaining all of this would be a pain."  
"We'll probably have to tell them at some point though."

The two of them just kept talking until they got out of the forest.  
"What were you two doing in the forest so late at night?" A voice asked. Mao immediately realized who it was.  
"You two are coming to the student council room first thing in the morning so you can answer my questions. Don't you even dare try to avoid me, it would be a shame if the headmaster found out about you two going out at night." Eichi said and then just smiled innocently. "I'll see you tommorow morning." He waved as he walked away, Mao just watched him leave, he had a bad feeling about this.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't updated in a while because of school and I started working on two other fics, I'll start posting those when I'm close to finishing them so I don't force people to wait that long for new chapters. Also this one is kinda short but the plot is thickening so you're welcome.

Mao woke up in the morning, everyone else was still asleep so he quietly got up and changed. He had to go talk to Eichi, and he had to take Makoto with him too. He was getting ready to wake Makoto up but then he realized how tired Makoto looked so he decided to just let him sleep. He needed the extra sleep, he wasn't used to going out all night like Mao was. The redhead decided to go to the student council room alone, all he had to do was answer a few questions, how hard could it be? 

When he got there he knocked on the door, he heard a "come in" from inside so he walked in.  
"Isara-kun, good morning. Please sit down." Eichi said in a calm voice. Mao did as he was told and looked at Eichi.  
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Mao asked.  
"Wait, where is your friend?"  
"He's sleeping, he was really tired." Mao explained and Eichi just nodded.  
"That's fine, you're probably the only one that can answer my questions anyway. You met a vampire, haven't you?"  
"How did you-"  
"The royal family still learns about them, we're the only people that know they exist. And a few wizard that happened to learn by accident. Anyway I wanted to ask you about something... Or should I say someone?"  
Mao was confused, who was Eichi even talking about?  
"I had an uncle, he got a vampire pregnant but then he died. I'm trying to find his child, they should be a little younger than you."  
"Why do you want to find them?"  
"Don't worry, I don't plan to kill them or anything like that. I can't tell you what I'm trying to do but trust me, I'd never hurt them." Eichi said and smiled.  
"Now I'm way more worried than before." Mao sighed.  
"Don't worry, I'm friends with a vampire, I'd never kill one of them."  
"Did you find your soulmate in the forest too?" Mao asked and but then realized what he just said. Eichi was obviously surprised by what Mao said.  
"Y-Your soulmate is a vampire?" He asked as his eyes widened.  
"Shit..." Mao whispered under his breath. "Y-Yeah... I met him when I got lost in the forest on the first day of school." Mao said, he felt like he shouldn't tell Eichi all of this. He didn't know if he could trust him yet.  
"What's his name?"  
"It's... Ritsu."  
Eichi suddenly went quiet and Mao thought it was really weird. He looked at the blonde waiting for him to say something. Did he know Ritsu? There was no way he did, right?

"You can go now. If you find out anything else you can come and talk to me again." Mao nodded and got up. He left the room and started walking back to his room, the last part of the conversation was really weird and he couldn't stop thinking about it. If Eichi knew Ritsu how did they meet? Did something happen between them?

As Mao started getting close to the dorms he saw Makoto run up to him.  
"Isara-kun!" The blonde yelled and stopped running, he took a moment to catch his breath. "We... We have to go talk t-"  
"Makoto it's fine, I talked to him already." Mao said. "And I'm pretty sure he won't snitch so we're fine." Makoto sighed of relief.  
"Ah, ok... Also sorry for not waking up to go with you."  
"It's fine, you looked really tired. Maybe you should stay here tonight, get a little more sleep."  
"I guess you're right..."

Later that night Mao left by himself. He was still thinking about the talk he had with Eichi that morning, maybe he could ask Ritsu if he knew him. After a while he got to the usual place and both Ritsu and Izumi were there.  
"Where's Yuu-kun?" Izumi asked.  
"He was really tired so he didn't come tonight." Mao explained, Izumi looked really annoyed.  
"Whatever, I'm going home then." He said and walked away. Ritsu was smiling at Mao and hugged him.  
"Maa-kun... I missed you." He said in a gentle voice.  
"Ritsu, I wanted to ask you something." Mao started.  
"Sure, what is it?"  
"Do you know a guy named Eichi? Blonde hair, blue eyes?" Ritsu looked shocked when he heard the name. "Ritsu, is something wrong?" Mao asked.  
"Does he know about us?" Ritsu quickly asked.  
"Why? What's wrong?"  
"Just answer me!" Ritsu screamed and that obviously shocked Mao, he never saw Ritsu like this.  
"He knows... But not too much, he only knows your na-"  
"That's still bad! Promise me you'll avoid him!"  
"Ritsu, what's wrong? Please tell me."  
"His father killed my parents!! Now that you know about vampires they could kill you too!! I can't lose you..." Ritsu said and started to tear up. Mao hugged him tightly, holding him as close as he could.  
"Hey, hey. It's ok... I'll be careful, I promise." Mao said gently and wiped the other's tears away. The vampire nodded slowly and held onto the other tightly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating much, I just haven't been feeling well lately. Would you guys like if I made a twitter or something to keep you guys updated idk just an idea

A few weeks have passed since all of this started, it was getting cold outside and soon it would probably start snowing too. Mao and Ritsu officially started dating now but Makoto and Izumi were still taking it slow. Izumi would have asked Makoto to be his boyfriend by now but the blonde said he wanted to take things slow and the other was ok with that. He wanted to get to know Makoto better before they started dating anyway.

Mao was doing his best trying to avoid Eichi, even if he trusted him at some point it didn't matter anymore, all of that trust was gone. Even if Eichi wasn't the one that killed Ritsu's parents he still couldn't be trusted, not yet at least.  
"Damnit, Mao. Focus!" Mao yelled all of a sudden. He was alone in his room doing some homework, or trying to at least. He couldn't stop thinking about Eichi for some reason, to him he didn't look like a bad guy but Ritsu was scared of him for a good reason, right? While he was lost in his thoughts Mao heard a knock on the door. He got up and walked to the door but then saw a letter on the ground right in front of the door. 'How did it get here?' he thought as he picked up the letter, it was for him.

He opened the envelope and took out the paper that was inside so he could read it.  
"Please come to my room tonight, I happened to find something really important to you around the school and I want to return it." Of course it was from Eichi, who else would have sent something like this? Mao went back to his desk and sat down, he sighed. Ritsu told him to avoid Eichi but the letter wasn't suspicious, he just wanted to return something, right? But if he did why wouldn't he do it now instead of bothering with writing the letter? Mao thought about it for a while and he ended up deciding to go, what could go wrong?

That night before all of them went to sleep Mao decided to go to Eichi's room. His room was on another side of the dorm, kids that were royalty or rich had their own rooms on the other side of the building, thankfully Mao's room was close to the entrance so the other half of the building wasn't that far. When he got there he started looking for Eichi's room and after a while he found it. He knocked on the door.  
"Come in." Eichi said and Mao opened the door and walked in.  
"You wanted to see me?" Mao asked as he closed the door behind him. Eichi nodded and smiled.  
"I found this around school." He said and then showed Mao something, it was the bracelet from Ritsu. He looked at his wrist and the bracelet wasn't there.  
"Uh, thanks for finding it." He said and as he tried to take the bracelet from him Eichi quickly moved his hand away.  
"I can't give it to you yet, I need a favor first." The blonde said.   
"What do you want me to do? I'll do anything!"  
"Calm down, it's not that hard." Eichi took a letter out of his pocket and handed it to Mao.  
"Give this to Ritsu. And make sure he replies, I'll give you the bracelet when you come back with a reply."

Mao looked down at the letter for a moment and then back at Eichi. Ritsu was scared of Eichi, how could he give him the letter? What was it about anyway? Well it was just a letter, he could give it to Ritsu. He didn't know if he would get a reply he could bring back though.  
"I'll try to give it to him." Mao said. "If that's all I'll go now." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He looked at the letter that was in his hand and sighed, he didn't know what to do with it, should he give it to Ritsu? Or should he just forget about the bracelet? No, he couldn't do that. Ritsu gave it to him and it meant a lot to him, it wasn't just a normal bracelet. 

Mao wasn't going to see Ritsu that night, Ritsu said he would be busy that night so he couldn't go even if he wanted to. He was in bed thinking about the letter, maybe he could open it himself and write a fake reply. But Eichi wasn't that stupid, he would figure it out. There weren't a lot of options and all of them sounded stupid unfortunately, it took Mao a lot of time to think about it but he finally decided what to do.

The next night Mao was walking in the forest, he had the letter in his pocket, he checked if it was still there a few times to make sure he didn't lose it. He soon got to the usual meeting spot, Ritsu wasn't there yet. He sat down leaning against the tree and took the letter out of his pocket, he just looked at it for a while. Was giving the letter to Ritsu really a good idea?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter this time but I wanted to post it sooner because I have an announcement. I made a twitter @TeaCroissant. I will post updates, make tweets when new chapters or fics are published and I'll talk about future fics on there. You can even ask me questions on there. So if you're interested in all that please follow me on there and thank you for being patient, I know I've been really slow lately when it comes to updates.

Soon Mao heard the familiar voice in the distance and it cheered him up a little.  
"Maa-kun!~" Ritsu ran up to him and then noticed the letter. "What's that?" He asked as Mao got up and handed it to him. "It's... From Eichi. I know you told me not to talk to him but I somehow lost my bracelet and he found it. And he told me he won't give it back if I don't come back with a reply from you."

Ritsu was pissed at first but the explanation calmed him down, this wasn't Mao's fault. He knew Eichi, he probably stole the bracelet and made it look like Mao lost it. He grabbed the letter and sighed.  
"It's ok, it's not your fault. I'll read it and see what it is about."  
"Ritsu, you don't have to if you don't feel like it. Maybe he'll just give it back after a while."  
"He won't, I'll just write a reply so you can get it back. Don't worry about me." Ritsu smiled but Mao knew the smile was fake, he felt like such a dumbass for ending up in this situation. And even though the vampire told him not to worry he still did.

Ritsu wanted to write a reply to the letter as quickly as possible so they went to his house, actually it was a castle.  
"You didn't tell me you live in a place like this." Mao said.  
"I didn't think it was important so I just forgot." Ritsu walked inside with him. "Now let's go to my room before-"  
"Ritsu! You're back!" A man walked up to them and hugged Ritsu. He looked a lot like Ritsu, that was probably the brother Mao heard about a few times. "Is this your boyfriend?" He asked.  
"Leave us alone, we're busy." Ritsu grabbed Mao's hand and dragged him up some stairs.

Mao ended up being dragged to a really nice and big room. It was most likely Ritsu's.  
"You can sit down on the bed while I take care of this." Mao nodded and sat down on the bed, it was so soft compared to his bed at the dorm and the one he had home. He ended up lying down on it and soon he got sleepy, slowly shutting down his eyes and falling asleep.

"Maa-kun~ Wake up~"  
"Hm... Five more minutes..."   
"It's getting late, well, early actually. You have to go back."  
"What time is it...?"  
"Almost five-" right as Ritsu said that Mao jumped up.  
"I have to go!" He rushed to the door and Ritsu followed him.  
"Maa-kun! The letter!" Mao stopped running so Ritsu could catch up to him. He grabbed the letter and rushed out of the castle and to the forest. The sun was starting to rise already, he had to get back before that happened so he wouldn't get caught.

Right as he got out of the forest he bumped into his favorite person, Eichi.  
"I see you got the letter for me." The blonde said with a smile. Mao was a bit freaked out by this, why was Eichi here at this hour? Well it didn't matter, he handed him the letter.  
"I have to go, you can give me the bracelet later!" Mao said and rushed back to the dorm.

He opened the door and walked in. Everyone was most likely sleeping so everything should be-  
"Isara!" That's when his thoughts were interrupted by Hokuto's voice.  
"Where have you been?" Subaru asked. "And why does Ukki know? And why isn't he telling us?" Mao was still thinking about how to reply, he thought they were still asleep so he didn't plan an excuse.  
"Let's sit down, I'll tell you everything."


	12. Chapter 12

"Wait, wait. So let me get this straight. You and Yuuki are dating two vampires that are your soulmates. And vampires and soulmates are a thing?"   
"Yeah, that's basically it." Makoto said. "Sorry for not telling you guys earlier."  
"It's ok, it's ok! Now tell me about this Izumi-san guy Ukki!"  
"Akehoshi, be quiet. Isara fell asleep."  
Mao was leaning onto Makoto as he slept quietly.  
"Well he was out all night, he must be exhausted." Makoto laid him down on the bed and tucked him in. It was still really early so the others decided to go back to sleep.

The next day around noon Mao decided to pay Eichi a visit to get the bracelet back. He walked up to the student council room and as he was about to knock he noticed the door was slightly open. He peaked inside and noticed Eichi with another man, he was around the same height as the blonde and had long hair. Mao looked closer and it looked like they were kissing. Suddenly he saw the man with long hair walking up to the door, Mao panicked and moved over to the side so the man wouldn't notice he was watching them. 

The man walked out of the room and thankfully didn't notice Mao. After that guy left he knocked on the door before walking in.  
"Hm? Oh, Isara-kun. How can I help you?" Eichi asked with a smile as he sat down at his desk.  
"Uh, my bracelet? Can I get it back?" Mao asked and the blonde nodded. To his surprise Eichi handed him the bracelet and another letter?  
"Can you give this to Ritsu?"  
"Again? I don't even know if he'll-"  
"He'll accept it, don't worry. Just give it to him for me, ok?"   
How could Mao refuse a guy with such a sweet smile? He just nodded before walking out of the room. He checked to see if his bracelet was ok before putting it on and going back to his dorm room.

When Mao walked into the room Makoto and Subaru were talking.  
"Come on, tell me about this Izumi guy! Come on Ukki, don't be shy!"  
"I said everything I wanted to say about him! What more do you want!"  
"Come on, there's gotta be mo- Sari! Come here! Tell me about that boyfriend of yours!"  
Mao laughed as he walked up to them. "Why are you so interested in this anyway?"  
"Because we're friends!"  
"Since we're friends why don't you tell us about your little crush on Hokuto?"   
"I don't have a crush on Hokke what are you talking about?!" That would have sounded true if his voice didn't crack. Mao just laughed.  
"Come on, you though we wouldn't notice?"  
"Is it that obvious?" Subaru asked as he blushed slightly.  
"To everyone except Hidaka-kun apparently." Makoto said.

Mao wanted to learn more about this and seeing Subaru all flustered was an interesting sight too but their fun was interrupted by Hokuto when he walked in.  
"Oh, Isara-kun. Do you think we can go tonight? I haven't seen Izumi-san in a while."  
"Hm? Yeah, I have to go see Ritsu too. I should tell him I got the bracelet back, and I have to give him another letter from Eichi."  
"Another one? What could it be about?"  
Mao just shrugged, he honestly had no idea. Well he could ask Ritsu later that night so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Later that night Mao went into the forest with Makoto. It was really cold that night and it was snowing, it was getting close to winter break so this was expected. When they got to the usual spot Ritsu and Izumi where already there. Izumi wasn't there usually because Makoto didn't come as often as Mao did.  
"Izumi-san I-" before the blonde could finish his sentence Izumi ran up to him and hugged him tightly.  
"Yuu-kun... I'm so glad you're ok..." He sounded worried, this was really weird. Mao suddenly felt Ritsu grab his hand and held it tightly.  
"Let's go somewhere else." Mao never saw Ritsu this worried and... Scared? Whatever was going on it was terrifying if both Izumi and Ritsu were like this.

Before they knew it they were in Ritsu's room, they all sat down on the couches that were in the middle of the room while Ritsu looked for something. After some time he handed Mao a piece of paper with beautiful cursive writing on it.  
"It's the letter from Eichi." Was all Ritsu said. Mao looked at the paper and started reading it, he didn't expect what was coming.

"Ritsu, I'm sorry for what my father has done to your parents, you and your brother shouldn't have gone through that and I'll make sure my father will pay for it. And sorry for stealing from Isara-kun, I didn't know how else I could convince you to write back and even read the letter in the first place.

I have been talking to your brother and we have been planning something, a way to make sure what happened to you, your family and all vampires won't happen again. I know it's a risky plan but it's all I could think of. 

I don't have time to give you all the details here, please ask your brother about it. I just wanted to warn you. I'll send Isara-kun with another letter the next day after you get this one. Make sure he doesn't come back."

The letter just ended there. This was really weird. After he finished reading, Mao handed the letter to Makoto. He was as shocked as Mao was just a few moments ago.  
"You guys know the rest of the details, right? What is going on?" Makoto asked. He was scared and he was trying to hide it but it wasn't really working. Mao was scared too but he wasn't showing it as much.  
"I think my brother should tell you about it. He knows what's going on better than anyone else."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ends on a cliffhanger but I promise I'll try to write the next chapter faster. I also updated the tags a bit because some things changed since I first started posting this story back in September. I hope writing this will be easier now because I finally got to the part of the story I thought about a lot. Also I'm working on another fic, it will have five chapters and they're all one shots but I'll talk about that more another time because I didn't write much of it, it's still in the planning stage. For now I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading this, it started as a random AU I thought of one night but now it's way more than that and I'm glad I got to share it with so many people.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update, my first version of this chapter was really bad so I had to re-write it. I'll try to update more often but no promises.

Only a few weeks have passed but everything changed. The king, Eichi's father, was found dead one morning and Eichi took over the throne right away. The moment he was crowned king it all began, he told the public about vampires and most of the nobles were pissed, they wanted to keep this a secret, they hated vampires and didn't want anything to do with them. And so the war began, a few nobles joined Eichi and if he ended up needing help Rei, the vampire king, would send some soldiers.

Mao and Makoto were stuck with the vampires, if they went back they would probably be forced to fight in the war, they were old enough to do that unfortunately. All they could do was sit around and pray that Subaru and Hokuto were ok. The worst part was waiting a week between the letters from Eichi, whenever one arrived they would all go read it together, they weren't doing much though, they were just hoping that things were going ok.

One day one of the letters arrived, as usual they were all both exited and terrified. They all gathered in one of the rooms in the castle. Rei was holding the letter as he looked around at everyone.  
"Who wants to read it?" He asked.  
"It was my turn, vampire bastard! Gimme that!" Koga said and Rei handed him the letter. Koga was also a wizard and just like Mao and Makoto he fell in love with a vampire and he decided to stay here. He opened the envelope and took out the piece of paper that had writing on it.  
"Dear Rei, everything is still going well, the people are mostly on our side and we have been winning a lot of the fights. Also I tried to find where Subaru and Hokuto are just liked you asked, I haven't found anything yet though. I'll keep you updated if I do find something." It was signed by Eichi, of course it was, who else would sign it?

Makoto and Mao didn't know what to say, they were still worried about their friends and the lack of information was terrifying to them, both of them could be dead by now and they wouldn't even know it.

A few more days passed, Mao was in the bedroom he shared with Ritsu, he was lying down on the bed thinking about everything. There was a lot to think about, they were experiencing a war after all. Suddenly the door opened, it was Ritsu, he was trying to catch his breath.  
"Letter... We got a new letter..." Mao stood up almost immediately, it was too early for a letter. Things were either going really well or horribly wrong.  
"Let's go." He told Ritsu before grabbing his hand and running to the room where they all usually met. Everyone was there except Izumi and Makoto but soon the two of them walked in.  
"Give me the letter, it's my turn." Izumi said and took the letter from Rei's hands. He opened it and took out the piece of paper with writing on it.  
"Dear Rei, I have some good news." Everyone sighed of relief at those words and then Izumi continued reading. "I found Subaru and Hokuto, they live with me in the castle now, I promise I'll keep the two of them safe." It was just a short letter, Eichi was a busy man after all. 

"Izumi-san, there's one more piece of paper in the envelope." Izumi looked down at the envelope he was holding, Makoto was right. He took out the paper and looked at it, the hand writing was horrible, this was definitely not written by Eichi.  
"What's up with this handwriting? It looks like a little kid's."   
Makoto looked over at the writing.  
"It's Akehoshi-kun's writing!" Mao jumped from his seat so he could look at the letter.  
"It's definitely Subaru's writing! What does it say?"  
"Do you really think I can read this? Look how messy it is, so annoying." Izumi sighed and Makoto took the paper from him.  
"Sari, Ukki, I'm so glad you two are ok! You really scared me and Hokke, you know? You dissapeared and then the king died and a war started all of a sudden. Eichi said I can't write too much since we have to send the letter as fast as possible. I'll see you when this thing is over! Write me some letters, ok?" 

Even though it was just a short silly letter it made Makoto and Mao smile, they were so glad Subaru and Hokuto were ok and that they didn't have to fight, they had no chance against the trained soldiers the nobles had, they weren't strong enough.  
"Let's write them something, I'm sure it will cheer both of them up!" And so the two boys started writing the letter, they wrote quite a lot in it and by the time they were done the sun was rising, they already got used to the vampire sleeping schedule so they were both exhausted. They both tried to stay awake so they could get to their rooms but they didn't have the energy to. They ended up falling asleep right there, with their heads resting on the table.


End file.
